DIY Butcher Block Countertop

I love the look of a butcher block counter top, especially paired with white painted cabinets.  This project is one more little piece of the greater puzzle that is our longestcheapestkitchenmakeoverever!  As with every other aspect of our kitchen makeover I have been looking for ways to get the look I want while re-purposing items and seeking out salvage sources for materials whenever possible.  It is my two birds with one stone approach, both kind to my wallet and kind to the planet.

In researching options for an economical butcher block style counter top I found methods all over the spectrum in terms of expense and degree of difficulty.  While I am fairly adventurous when it comes to tackling the DIY unknown, I am well aware of my limits in patience and skills set.  Two methods caught my eye that seemed doable and when I stumbled across some bundles of scrap oak flooring at Habitat For Humanity ReStore it was decided which method I would tackle.

I have taken to swinging by my local HFH ReStore now whenever I am in the vicinity because good stuff doesn't last long and you never know what items might have been marked down up to 75% off the already low prices.  It was one of these visits that I stumbled upon plastic wrapped bundles of unfinished brand new tongue and groove oak flooring scraps marked down to just $3.50 per bundle.  There were about 10 scrap planks per bundle varying in size from 12-18 inches in length.  I grabbed the four bundles that they had figuring that it would be more than enough for my counter top project.  This small counter top used 2 full bundles ( 20 scrap planks), that is $7.00 in wood materials.  Add in 2 tubes of liquid nails ($6 rounded up), a small tin of stain/poly ($6 rounded up), and you have a counter top for roughly $19.00 and I'm pretty sure that you can't beat that with other low cost solutions such as laminate or tile.  Although I must admit that I also used a thin plywood base for this project which I had in my scrap pile, so I guess the project could have cost a bit more if I had needed to purchase some plywood.

I should also mention that the base cabinets that this counter top is for were also salvage cabinets from Habitat For Humanity for the bargain of $30, the book case attached on the far right was constructed out of wood I salvaged from some cabinets that we removed above our peninsula.

Here is how we tackled the counter top:

I started by cutting a plywood base to the dimensions of the cabinets and anchored the plywood to the cabinet.

Using liquid nails I began installing the wood flooring on top of the plywood.  I chose to lay it starting in the far right corner with the groove sides to the back and right edges.  This leaves the tongue sides facing outward.  Use a hammer as needed to set the planks tight.

You will end up with some uneven edges on the left end, I trimmed those with a saw after they were set.
You might have some high low spots at the plank joints, so sand those smooth.  I sanded with a rough grit to level out the high low spots then finished off with a fine grit to give a very smooth finish.  I shaped the sharp corner with the sander to create a smooth rounded corner for safety and aesthetics.  I had originally planned to trim off the tongue for a straight edge and then add a trim piece.  My husband said he liked the shape of the tongue edge and that gave me a convenient out as my confidence was wavering as I faced the task of achieving a straight edge.  By leaving the tongue edge it gives the appearance of a decorative router edge.

After the boards were sanded smooth and wiped down with a damp cloth, it was time to stain.  I opted to go with an all-in-one stain and poly in Pecan with a satin finish.

The Pecan stain gave the oak a little more warmth and depth without being too dark.  Just the right amount of contrast to the white cabinets.

I will be adding a thin strip of white trim where the cabinet base and plywood meet for a more finished look. I am happy with the look of the white and butcher block.

Well I hope this simple and budget friendly project will inspire you to re-think how you see materials.  Flooring isn't just for floors.  Thank you for stopping by!

Salvage Headboard Bench

I am so excited to have finally finished this little bench for my backyard!

This project was another born out of distraction while visiting Habitat For Humanity ReStore in search of materials for one project or another.  It happens nearly every time, I'm heading back to the cabinets or tile and this little voice in my head shouts,"Squirrel"!  In this case a cute old worn oak headboard and footboard with a $5 price tag jumped out at me.  As soon as I saw it a picture popped into my head of exactly what it would look like as a bench and I knew I must take it home.  Like many of my projects born out of distraction, this one got tabled for a while before I could get back to it, so it sat in the garage for many months... okay about a year... in which time it annoyed the crap out of my beloved garage hogging husband.

I began by cutting the footboard so that it could be used as the sides of the bench.  Depending how deep you want the bench to be, you can either cut it in half, or take a strip out of the middle to get the desired width for the sides.

The next step was to cut wood to build a seat box.  You can use 2x4's, but I just used what I had in my scrap pile, which was slightly smaller.  Cut the 4 strips according to your desired dimensions so that the seat box can be attached to the headboard flush on the sides.

Next, you want to attach your pieces to build your seat box.  If you are using 2x4's you should be able to assemble the box with screws.  I opted to use some "L" brackets because my boards were smaller than 2x4 and I wanted to avoid splitting.  You can see that my shorter cuts for the side are thinner than the longer front and back pieces and that is because I was using wood from my scrap pile.  The thicker pieces were the leftover crosspieces from a cedar picket fence panel and the thinner pieces were once part of a sofa that we dismantled for recycling.

I then attached the seat box directly to the bench back (headboard).  I measured and attached it to achieve a 17" standard seat height.

 

Next step, attach the footboard sides fastening it to both the sides of the headboard and the seat box.  I chose to add some additional "L" brackets to the underside of the seat box and headboard/footboard pieces for added support.

Lastly, I cut some scrap boards from the kids old play structure to form the seat top and fastened them to the seat box.

Finally, the fun part!  I used Rustoleum outdoor/indoor paint in Maui Blue to give this little salvage scrap bench a fun pop of color.  I used one yard of outdoor fabric in a fun print to sew a seat pad cover,which I then stuffed with an old queen size mattress pad.  

This was a very quick and budget friendly project. Total spent was only $33

- headboard/footboard $5

- scrap wood $free

- paint $16

- fabric $12

- mattress pad for seat filler $free

Thank you for stopping by and I hope this post will inspire you to get out there to your local salvage store or garage sales and tackle your own upcycle project.